Asperger's and Fundamentalism Related?

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THis should probably go in the Politics, Philosophy, Religion category, but those arent read as much as the General Discussion but here goes...

I see a very strong parallel between AS and Fundamental Christian Denominations like the Lutherans and Baptists, I am not fundamentalist, but i have done research on this. Persons with AS often have a hard time letting things go, and often take things VERY litterally. Fundamentalists have a hard time letting the Bible and strong religious convictions go and they take the Bible EXTREMELY literally. Iread the Bible, but i know that quite a bit of it is symbolic,the idea of a seven headed beast like the one in Revelation is bit exaggerated. I dont intend to offend, ust understant why many Protestant Fundamentalists think that The Vatican harbors the antiChrist.

Well you're really just stating catholic doctrine, which you seem to believe. so what. shrug.

"Catholic" is capitalized

Most autistic people I've met over the years (and psychologists will testify on this) seem to have a very sharply defined, almost rigid sense of ethics...

You don't hear about autistics mugging people or stealing very often...

This tends to lead to sharply held religious and political beliefs...

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Last edited by Ante on 09 Nov 2005, 3:28 pm, edited 4 times in total.

I think you meant that fundamentalists and people with AS act alike. I actually think that depends on the person. If you are going by the textbook definition of AS, then probably.

Personally, I have never had a problem taking things figuratively. I do have strong views, but I am able to see another person's point of view. I often see morals and ethics in shades of gray, rather than black and white. So no I don't act like a fundamentalist.

A fundamental part of the aspie nature I believe is that we are less inclined to take things at face value, to accept glib, fobbed off explanations for things. Rather, we are more inclined to seek out our own answers to things..... I think then, based on this, that religion is pretty much doomed as far as aspiedom is concerned in the majority of cases, as no organised religion's belief system can survive any amount of unbiased inquisition (with a small 'i') on anyone's behalf. Thus, I disagree strongly - I think AS and religious beliefs (fundametalist or just plain old mentalist) are mutually self-exclusive in the majority of cases......

Cue long line of "I'm an aspie, but love Jesus too, so nerrrr!! !!" posts.....

I just love expressing popular opinions.....

Last edited by TAFKASH on 14 Mar 2005, 7:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I was raised Anglican (aka Episcopalian) but rejected Christianity when I was about 14. One day I realized that I had the ability to make up my own mind, and suddenly I found the whole idea of an ethereal guiding hand to be a bit rediculous. That led to a very brief flirtation with atheism. Eventually I just decided that religion isn't worth the mental calories and now I'm agnostic.

I also ended up having a very strong sense of morals. I can see shades of grey where they actually exist (stealing medicine to cure someone who can't afford it, for example) but for the most part I am very rigidly black and white. It drives my partner crazy at tax time because I'm reluctant to take advantage of loopholes if I know they weren't intended for my benefit. I'm also the kind of person who tells a cashier if he/she gave me too much change....

Me too. The cashier was amazed, and said, "Nobody would know... unless God if you were religious." I said, "*I* would know." She stared at me as I left.

It bothers me that most people would just take advantage of me if I made a mistake like that.

People with Asperger's Syndrome are significantly less likely to believe in any form of organized religion than the general population is.

I disagree, I think that the fundamental nature of aspies is being very, very logical. At the very least it is contradictary to act logical and take at face value "the idea of a seven headed beast like the one in Revelation."


Thus, while Aspies take things literally, they do so in a logical manner (i.e. logically analyze jokes that are inherently paradoxical); the bibile is obviously not meant to be logically analyzid (wow i can't spell, whatever).

Furthermore, i think the reason why aspies typically reject religion is because the essence of religion--afterlife, supernatural stuff--is counter-intuitive and illogical. Then they realize that the only reason they embraced it in the first place is because they 1 grew up with it and 2 embrace tradition and the status quo. (or maybe this is just me)

Mm, I wondered about a link between religious fundamentalism and AS, primarily because I thought they would be mutually exclusive - few religions being particularly logical, and usually requiring a "it just is" belief at some point along the road.

However, I've since met someone that displays a lot of aspie traits, although I wouldn't presume she is, I suspect she is. She is also a fundamentalist Christian of some branch or another (creationist, that's pretty fundamentalist isn't it?) She does, however, try to explain things in a logical fashion, but the holes in the arguements are HUGE, and theyr'e ususally pretty circular arguments aswell. (Aswell as: God exists even though you can't see him. You can't see the wind, can you? But you feel it's effects. Well then, that proves God exists.)

So maybe it's like many other things. Who you're raised by, how much you're encourages to enquire at an early age or conversely how much religious indoctrination you go through and discouragement from enquiry. (As is this girl's case, I suspect)

i agree with tafkash (as usual), and Jay.

me? a fundie? falls off chair laughing!

I don't know anything about religion, (and I would get annoyed if someone told me to capitalise "Catholic" - on a side note)

I don't have any problems with taking things literally, sometimes I do for a joke, but that's it..

Unless you are a young, brainwashed aspie, as I once was, you are unlikely to be a "classic" Christian.

Eventually, I broke out of the Seventh-Day-Adventism I was in, through a series of tests for the foundational doctrine. Ironically, I was just following through on what I had been taught to do, at my first opportunity.

I am still a christian/spiritual person, but a far cry from most "christians". I say even athiests are christians if they are compassionate towards their fellow humans.

It's the love in your heart, not what you know in your head. (ex. man died on cross, 32 AD. Know as fact or die.. )

It's more like "Good Samaritanism", if you like.

I agree with TAFKASH, Jay and vetivert that aspies are generally unlikely to be fundamentalists as our nature tends to involve thinking for ourselves.

Personally my problem with organised religion is that I find it difficult to accommodate a belief sytem which asks you to ignore what your senses tell you and the evidence that you see around you, to accept a Bronze Age prophet's 'divinely inspired' interpretation of wrong and right, and to accept notions which fly in the face of logic. I am religious but I prefer to dictate my own spiritual path thanks...

I think New Model Army said it best in 'Ten Commandments'...

Dunc